Joel Klatt reached deep into his bag on Monday and gave Vega Yoane an incredible compliment with his latest mock draft.
Joel Klatt tried a new exercise on for size. As we are deep in the middle of mock draft season, he took a different approach and started a really fascinating conversation.
Instead of making just the draft eligible players a part of the mock draft, he mocked how the NFL, in this current draft order, would draft the entire sport of college football.
It doesn't matter what grade you're in or when you are eligible; you are eligible in this exercise.
As a surprise to no one, there are not many Nittany Lions on the board. However, there is one.
Vega Ioane made the cut in this "everyone's available" exercise, and it is a major tip of the cap from Klatt to Ioane.
Ioane is largely regarded across the board as the most coveted interior offensive lineman in the draft. That position group isn't very deep this year, but Ioane stands at the top of it. Not only is he the best interior offensive lineman, but he is also still believed to be a first-round talent.
So, in this draft, just as many do in a normal draft scenario, Klatt has Ioane jumping off the board late in the first round.
A common landing place for Vega is at pick No. 22 for the Los Angeles Chargers. How great would this be for Justin Herbert and the Bolts?
The offensive line in the powder blue last season was one of, if not the, worst in all of football. The shame is, it cost Herbert another year of his prime and wasted a team that had the chops to make a run.
It was evident in their first-round playoff game against the New England Patriots, where they surrendered six sacks and rushed for just 87 yards, with Herbert being their leading rusher.
Ioane is such a unique and special talent in the interior that he is going to be very attractive to a lot of teams in the league. Rarely do you see a player who is athletic enough at that size to move the way he does and successfully block the way that he does.
In a normal draft, Ioane is a target for the Chargers at the end of the first round. There are some other teams that will have their eyes on the rising star, but the former Nittany Lions' floor seems to be the Chargers at pick No. 22.
It's that way in a normal draft scenario, and Klatt makes the case that it would be that way in a draft where every player in college was available. Ioane will be a special player at the next level.